Dashboards are full of words that sound exact and are not. Networks define them differently, and sometimes change a definition without telling you. Treat this as a starting point, and check each network’s own help page when a number matters.
How many people saw it
- Reach: roughly the number of different accounts that saw a post at least once.
- Impressions: how many times it was shown, including repeats to the same person. Never smaller than reach.
- Views: on video, usually the number of plays, and what counts as a play differs from one network to another.
What people did
- Likes and reactions: the lightest signal. Easy to give and easy to ignore.
- Comments and replies: somebody took the trouble to write.
- Saves: somebody wants it again. One of the strongest signs that a post was useful.
- Shares and sends: somebody wanted another person to see it.
What happened next
- Profile visits: people who wanted to know who you are.
- Link clicks: people who wanted to go further.
- Follows after a post: how many decided to stay.
Rates and percentages
An engagement rate divides some actions by some audience, and which actions and which audience varies from tool to tool, so two dashboards can give two answers for the same post. Our article on engagement formulas sets out three of them. Pick one and use it consistently.
What to do with them
- 1Choose three numbers that match your goal and ignore the rest.
- 2Compare like with like: video with video, this month with last month.
- 3Write down what a number means the first time you use it, so that you do not change the definition without noticing.
If you cannot say in one sentence what a number measures, do not base a decision on it.